Former congressional candidate Tan Nguyen will be going back to court to face two felony obstruction of justice charges related to his 2006 challenge of Rep. Loretta Sanchez, D-Santa Ana, Assistant United States Attorney Greg Staples said today.

On Aug. 27, a mistrial was declared by U.S. District Judge David O. Carter after the jury voted to convict 11-1 on one count and 9-3 on the other. Staples said today that the government will retry the case.

During Nguyen’s 2006 effort, his campaign sent letters to 14,000 foreign-born Latino voters. The mailers warned recipients that they could be jailed for voting illegally and falsely stated that there was “a new computerized system” that could provide immigration-reform groups with the names of new registrants casting ballots.

A state investigation into whether Nguyen’s campaign was involved in voter suppression resulted in no charges being filed. However, federal authorities subsequently charged him with lying to investigators in the case and illegally asking a campaign worker to take the fall for him. Nguyen said he was not involved with the mailers, while the federal case argues that he was intimately engaged with the tactic.

I’m working on a column on the case and will be posting it here on Total Buzz later today.

Martin Wisckol covers coastal environment and development. Previously, he spent two decades as politics reporter and columnist for the Orange County Register. He’s also held reporting positions in Miami, Jacksonville, Detroit and his hometown of San Diego, with an emphasis on land use and urban planning. He is a lifelong surfer and has spent most of his life on the coast. His work has been honored by the Society of Professional Journalists, the National Headliner Awards, the California Newspaper Publishers Association, the Florida Press Club and the American Planning Association Florida Chapter.